I've had lots of truly great pizza, arguably some of the best in the US. However, I have recently found myself in a situation where ordering delivered food was the only viable option. I like pizza - all the delivery pizza around here sucks. I've never tried RT or PH, but they do deliver. Knowing which might be a better choice could be helpful. Maybe they're better than the other local choices for delivery pizza - I don't know.

If I could order pizza delivered from Chez Panisse, Cucina (great thin crust pizza made in a brick, wood burning oven), Cheeseboard, or any one of a number of other excellent local pizza places, I would.

Worked for a Pizza Hut (Ralston Purina was the parent company, I believe at the time) bake shop that did deliveries only.

This was back in 1986.

Some products/ingredients were frozen or canned/vacuum packed, and the rest were commercial "pacs" that came in refrigerated, with the exception of the dough, which was made fresh daily.

It's a production line pie, with everything measured and assembled according to the "pretty picture" instructions, and then sent through a conveyor belt oven.

The quality of pie depends on the "cook/assembler", as that's the only real variable.

Some people take some pride in a nice distribution, or presentation, of the ingredients, and some just couldn't give a rand rat's patoot how their product comes out.

The person making the pie also can be a little generous with the goodies, should they be so inclined.

The Pizza Hut product is generally made with decent quality ingredients (gourmet it is not), and their goal is consistantly good (not great) pizza, delivered to your door within a reasonable time period, hot, and ready to be enjoyed.

I still order from them on occasion, and am generally not too terribly disappointed.

That being said, if you have a Papa John's available, they sell a good pie, too...

Note: The bake shop personnel do not (or didn't use to) see any portion of the tips given to the driver, and generally make minimum (or just above min.) wage.
Which, was sort of funny when I went to apply, as I was taking a second job to help pay some medical bills, and the manager noticed that I was already earning about 1.5+ his salary in my day job...

I might be suffering from CDO.It is just like OCD, except the letters are in alphabetical order.Just as they should be...

Papa Murphy's Take and Bake PapaMurphys is a decent pizza for not home made. Not sure if they are on the west coast though. We ordered from them once a week back in KC. Pizza Hut has their following as I'm sure Round Table does. They've made their productr work for them I guess would be the best way to comment. Sure do miss Mellow Mushroom in Atlanta and a place called Roberto's in my home town back in the 'burbs of Chicago. Now that was good pizza!:beer:

I'm certainly no expert, rarely get take out or delivery pizza. But as I recall Pizza Hut crusts tend to be a bit better than some, maybe because there is more grease in them or something. For the most part the pizza I eat is usually a Papa Murphy's take and bake, love their veggie thin crust, they call it Delite, I think, since no one can spell anymore.

One of these days I'm going to try making pizza from scratch. Say, are those Chef Boy-Ar-Dee pizza kits in a box still available?

Thanks for your suggestions. Over the years several delivery services in the area have come and gone. Right now I don't know of any that are operating here. However, I will look into it. Of course, not all restaurants will contract with such a service. Frankly, I'm surprised that such a service has not done well here.

Taxis in the bay area, especially the East Bay, are outrageiusly expensive. Getting a pizza from Chez Panisse can cost as much as $12.00 for the taxi. There are a few other complicating factors, although they are not insurmountable, just a PITA. For example, Zachary's, which makes apretty good Chicago style pie, is a cash only operation, so a cabbie would be required to front the cost of the pie, which, from similar experiences, I can tell you ain't gonna happen. LIkewise my favorite NYC style pizza place, Arinel. However, for places that do take credit cards, taxi delivery is much simpler.

You need to spend time in Berkeley to understand the degree to which the municipality is unfriendly to the internal combustion engine. It's one of the few places on earth which intentionally made its streets difficult to drive -- installing traffic obstacles in order to encourage residents to use alternative transportation. And that was in the seventies! IIRC, the seventies was the last time there was actually an open parking place on the street. People will them to their beneficiaries.

Of the non-chains, West Coast delivers and so does Extreme. West Coast ain't bad. Also, if you're planning ahead, you can pick up a 1/2 baked from Zack's and keep it in the fridge. It ain't Chez Panisse, but WTF?

Of the chains, you forgot Domino's. The thing about chain pizza is that not all outlets are created equal. You'll have to try several pizzas from each of the three, over a period of time to settle upon a favorite and two to loathe. We can't do it for you.

UCLA stole our name, our colors, our mascot, our song and my son. What more can they want? Still, they beat (ptui!) Stanford.

Go Bears,
BDL

PS Son is now grad-student at first alma-mater UCSC. Go Slugs.

PPS You were very patient explaining about taxis in Califonria. You must be a nice person. For a cook.

The deep dish pans are liberally sprayed with an aerosol propelled cooking oil before the dough is placed in the pan...

Don't know the score on the hand tossed or cheesy crust units, but the consistency of the hand tossed suggests the same lubrication techniques as the deep dish, and I've had no interest in their cheeze infused crusts. I get enough cheese from the pie itself.

It will be interesting to hear your critique of whichever purveyor you eventually select. Think of it as a science experiment... :)

I might be suffering from CDO.It is just like OCD, except the letters are in alphabetical order.Just as they should be...

I don't care much for West Coast, Extreme won't deliver to my area. I live in Kensington. I didn't forget about Dominos - their pizza is some of the worst trash around - flacid, insipid crust, poor quality toppings. Unfortunately, I'm not good at planing ahead, so buying a 1/2 baked at Zachary's is a low priority. It's a good idea though. Now you got me hungry for a slice of pepperoni or a veggie slice at Z's. Since I've gotta be in the neighborhood later, that'll be my lunch. Only about an hour or so to go ....

Pizza Hut uses crap....

ingredients! I have not ordered in some time however last time i did it was terrible! Come to find out the tomato sauce was not even that, it was some kind of chemical mix that tasted LIKE tomato sauce. YUCK!!

Now they may have change since then to a real sauce but i avoid places that are heavy into using chemicals in cooking their products.

pizza

Shel-
I much prefer homemade pizza to chain restaurant pizza- but of the two choices you have given I'd say Round Table- because my experience with Pizza Hut they have been very greasy. My kids, however, would vote the opposite as they like greasy and stuffed crust. As for the other chains- dominos, papa johns, papa murphys, mountain mikes..... they are probably fine if you are hosting a kids' sports team or are a college student in need of a midnite snack.... but I'm not into cardboard crusts and over-processed tasting toppings. :D

I agree that there are better pizzas than any of those you mentioned, but, as you surmised, I'm just looking for the best choice of a few that will deliver to my area for the times I want a quick pizza fix and am stuck at home. I'm going to order a RT the next time I want delivered pie and see how it goes. It can't be any worse than the other companies around here that deliver, and, with but a few exceptions, most pizza around here is pretty mediocre, even the "good" ones.